Some 55 percent of U.S.-based online merchants accepted orders from outside the U.S. and Canada in 2005, and those orders constituted 14 percent of their total sales, according to a CyberSource survey, writes Internet Retailer. However, the direct fraud rate on international orders averaged 2.4 percent - more than twice the overall average.

Online merchants that sell outside North America say they reject international orders at a rate three times the average of 3.9 percent. The rate of growth in online sales in the U.S is about 20 percent a year, but many European and other markets worldwide are growing at a faster rate.